The New Zealand Open is scheduled to tee off at Millbrook on March 2 and James ("Jimmy") O’Malley is worried about what course superintendents and greenkeepers in this part of the world always worry about: oppressive heat.
That is par for the course for O’Malley, mind you, as he has been dealing with "typical" dry, hot summers at the Arrowtown golf resort most years since he got a job in the pro-shop 21 years ago.
It didn't take him long to be promoted to superintendent, and the North Cantabrian has been there ever since.
This year's open – the 102nd – is special, however. It follows a two-year pandemic-enforced break, and it's the first time the resort will have sole hosting rights.
This is also the first year of a five-year hosting agreement with Golf NZ, with Sky Sport along as media sponsors. Millbrook takes over from The Hills next door, which has served as co-host of the tournament for the past seven years.
Millbrook, easily among the top four courses in NZ in terms of golf bragging rights – the others would be Tara Iti and Kauri Cliffs in Northland and Cape Kidnappers in Hawke's Bay – also turns 30 this year.
And prize money for the top professionals will amount to a NZ-record $1.6 million, underwritten by Millbrook and tournament sponsors.
So, no pressure, Jimmy.
Spectacular venue
As the only tier-one championship in the world that runs as a Pro-Am, the event pairs 156 paying amateurs with professionals across a best-ball format.
The top 60 professionals will head into the final two days of play at Millbrook.
It is a spectacular venue, sprawling across 263 hectares between Arrowtown and Lake Hayes and framed by the Remarkables mountain range.
Its guiding light was Japanese businessman Eiichi Ishii, who died in 2019, aged 80.
The resort – which remains in Ishii family ownership and is now headed by Eiichi’s son Gota Ishii – also offers five-star accommodation, five onsite dining venues, a day spa and health and fitness centres.
Extra workload
Last year, it was acknowledged as Oceania’s leading hotel at the world travel awards.
It also added nine holes to Jimmy O'Malley’s workload, taking its Greg Turner and Scott Macpherson-designed Coronet course to 18 holes, and its full complement of holes to 36.
The original Remarkables course was designed by NZ legend Bob Charles, just to add to the pedigree of the place.
The two courses are serviced by 90 electric carts – it's advisable to use them given some of the landscape – with members and visitors allocated to courses on alternate weeks.
Carts advisable unless you're playing in the Open. (Image: BusinessDesk)
For the championship, that means O'Malley will need to ensure consistency across both courses during the four-day tournament, focusing on elements such as green speeds.
Golfers who make the cut will play Coronet for the final two days, but miss out the par-three second hole, instead crossing over from the usual Coronet 18th to the par-three 18th hole on the Remarkables course.
The "champions lounge" at the 2020 NZ Open. (Image: photosport.nz)
That will see some nerves jangling in front of a huge gallery and the famous "champions lounge".
O'Malley won’t be doing it all himself, however. He has 45 staff to help out during the tournament, up from his day-to-day team of 32. The extra helpers are coming from The Hills, Auckland’s Remuera course and even from Australia.
Fans starved of good golf
Millbrook director of operations Brian Howie said there will also be an army of volunteers – as many as 500 – doing marshalling, transport, and getting people around the course.
Howie said that with free gate entry, it was “anybody’s call” as to how many visitors would attend. "But after two years I think people are starved of good golf, and it’s certainly caught the imagination."
And well it should. The open has a reputation for attracting future stars, with the likes of Tom Kim, Cameron Davis, Lucas Herbert and Cameron Smith having made appearances.
Young guns
There will again also be a strong Japanese contingent, for whom the NZ Open is seen as a warm-up for the Japan tour. There are 20 reserved spaces for Japanese professionals and 20 for Japanese amateurs at the Millbrook event.
Tournament director Michael Glading likes 22-year-old Riki Kawamoto (he will turn 23 on day two of the open), who last year was statistically the longest-hitting player on the Japan tour.
The big-hitting Riki Kawamoto, from Japan. (Image: Asian Tour Media)
Top names
The more experienced players in the field will include 2022 senior PGA champion Steven Alker, Scott Hend, Brendan Jones, Wade Ormsby and former NZ champion Michael Hendry.
Defending 2020 champion Brad Kennedy, of Australia, will make an appearance, as will South Korea's KJ Choi.
It will also be the fifth visit to NZ for Japan’s Mikumu Horikawa, who has won four times on tour, with career earnings of over $4.6 million.
With that kind of firepower, Millbrook's 30-year-anniversary prize for an ace on the 18th – an all-expenses-paid week's holiday at Millbrook for each of the next 30 years – could well be in play. The resort has also thrown in $1,000 spending money, presumably to help cover transport costs to Arrowtown.
Howie said that if there were, say, two holes-in-one, the prize would be shared in alternate years.
